Chasing Cars
by That-Flying-Breadstick-Wizard
Summary: When someone tries to kill the eldest son of a rich family, Beckett and Co. are put on the case. But, as always, there is more to it than they think... With interfering Lightwoods, copious amounts of intimidating redheads, and not-very-good writing, this author presents to you a fiction that you'll probably hate but might just love. Human!AU, Lots of MALEC.
1. Chapter 1

**Okay, look, this might need some explaining.**

 **So I have like, quite a bit of this written, but not all of it is quite ready to be published.**

 **However, I'm gonna start anyway because you guys- you few, precious darlings who actually care about what I type- are awesome!**

 **.**

 **So basically, what's happening here is Magnus, Alec, and the gang are all humans, ordinary people, etc.**

 **An attempted murder happens- on Alec- and the cops have got all the wrong suspects. (Sort of.)**

 **Beckett and Co. are investigating, and they keep turning corners only to find another weird turn.**

 **.**

 **Another note: I cannot write Beckett. I'm sorry. I'm trying, but she always comes off as either super emotional or a bitch, so expect her to be a bit OOC because I'm not good at author-ing.**

 **If you see any continuity/spelling/grammar/etc. errors feel free to tell me, I'm sure they're in there.**

 **If anything is super confusing (I'm sure it is, tbh, I suck) feel free to ask, really! :)**

 **.**

 **DISCLAIMER: These things you read... They are not mine. The words are mine, and yet, the people within them, and the stories within the people, and the place the people are within, are not.**

" _Let's waste time..._

 _Chasing cars,_

 _Around our heads_

 _I need your grace,_

 _To remind me_

 _To find my own."_

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

"Stay for one more drink?" Magnus asked coyly, turning and offering the cocktail with a smile. Alec gave him a lopsided grin, taking the glass.

"I suppose," he said, taking a sip. Immediately he spat it back into the cup. "W-what is this?" he coughed.

Magnus looked down at his glass, frowning. "Too much vodka. Oops."

Alec huffed out a laugh, setting down the glass. "Why do you have vodka? This is the office. You shouldn't even have alcohol here."

Alec was at ease. Right now, he was quicker to smile, movements loose, shoulders not hunched and tense. It was rare, but then, right now they were alone, the glass windows of the office only showing the night, faintly lit up buildings to the side and cars racing far below. The office was dark and empty, save for them, and it had a quiet and peaceful atmosphere. Comfortable, almost.

Magnus shrugged, flourishing a hand as if to say _What can you do?_ He took a sip of his own glass, choking a bit. "Wow," he said in a rather strained voice. "That is too much." He cleared his throat.

Setting it down, he walked over to Alec, still smiling. "Oh, well, there are better things to taste."

Alec laughed. "That's the best line you've got?"

"You know you love it."

"I do," Alec conceded, leaning in to kiss him. Magnus gladly reciprocated, Alec's arms curling around his waist, when-

Magnus opened his eyes, ever so slightly, only for something to catch his eye. A movement at the corner of his eye. His eyes flew open.

A shadowy figure with a shiny object in his hand, aimed right at them-

 _Gunman._

They broke apart suddenly, Alec dazed and confused as Magnus gave a shout, pushing him back just as the shot rang out. It barely grazed Magnus's leg, sending white-hot pain shooting up his leg. There was a loud _bang,_ the glass shattering, the wind suddenly almost deafening. "Alec!" he shouted.

There was another shot. The gunman was getting eerily closer to Alec.

Alec was across the room, taking shelter behind a desk, Magnus powerless to do anything but watch from where he had fallen. A shadowy figure moved right _there-_ Magnus tried to warn him, but a shot went off directly above Alec, right up close, sending a partially broken vase- a _heavy_ partially broken vase- crashing down on Alec's head. The shots stopped as he crumpled to the ground. Uncaring of the possible consequences, Magnus ran out into the open, still limping from where the first bullet had grazed him. No more shots came as he rushed to his boyfriend's side. Distantly, he heard footsteps running away. He cradled his boyfriend in his arms, blood seeping through his fingers where they were woven through Alec's hair. "Alec. _Alexander._ Wake up. C'mon, wake up! Please, wake up... Please, I love you, wake up..."

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

"Just try one!" Martha called, flourishing the spoon still covered in pancake batter. Castle looked down at the plate of so-called pancakes with dread. About half of them were crispy and burnt, the other half raw, runny, and lopsided. His mother could cook many things, but pancakes was not one of them.

"Mother, I'd rather not die at such a young age," he said, opening the fridge in search of edible food. He found nothing- literally. The fridge was completely empty.

Martha grinned evilly. "You'll be trying my cooking for once, young man." she declared, pushing a plate of soggy, uneven pancakes towards him. He blanched.

"Good morning, dad," Alexis said gloomily as she trudged into the kitchen.

"Sweetheart, what's wrong," Castle said immediately, abandoning the sagged pancake he'd been picking at with his fork.

"It's nothing," she said, taking the plate that Martha eagerly pushed towards her without even looking at it.

"C'mon," he grinned, "Don't try that on me. You just took my mother's pancakes without complaint, something's definitely wrong."

Alexis sighed. "There's this girl in my class, Maria. She _hates_ me."

"Aw, I'm sure she doesn't hate you," the writer said. "It's probably just teenage angst. Hormones. It's probably got nothing to do with you."

"But what if it _does?"_ Alexis stressed. "What did I do? Why does she hate me so much? As far as I know, I haven't done anything to her!"

"You're thinking too much, sweetheart," Castle said.

"Maybe she's jealous," interjected Martha. "Of all your good grades and fabulous good looks."

Alexis rolled her eyes, allowing a small smile on her lips.

"Maybe," she said, clearly unconvinced.

Castle's phone buzzed. He looked at the screen, lighting up.

"We've got a case!" he said cheerfully.

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

" _Oh- oh my god."_

" **Sir, what is your emergency?"**

" _I just found my- my co-worker, he fell and hit his head. He's, uh, he's been shot at, and he's- he's breathing but his pulse is weak and he won't wake up!"_

" **What is your address, sir?"**

" _The Lightwood Institute, 26_ _th_ _floor. It's on Angel Street, I- just, please, hurry."_

" **Sir, I'm going to need you to give me a na- Sir, please, stay on the line-"**

 _[line cuts off]_

"That's a 9-1-1 call we received from a desk phone in Alec Lightwood's office yesterday night at around 10:30." Detective Kate Beckett announced, turning to her team. Castle was currently pelting Esposito with rolled up paper wads, Ryan cackling in the background. Beckett sighed. _Children,_ she thought. _I work with children._

She rapped her knuckles on the desk, startling Castle and making the next wad go wildly off aim and hit her directly in the face. They all went dead silent. She exhaled deeply. "Do I need to play it again?" she asked. They shook their heads.

"Alexander Lightwood is our victim," she continued, putting up a picture on the board. It showed a solemn teenager with dark hair and hazel eyes. "He's currently in a coma. He's recovering, but he could wake up anytime- from years to days. He was shot at four times before one shot knocked over a vase and knocked him out. None of the bullets hit him, possibly thanks to our mystery caller."

"Uh, Beckett, just wondering, but... We're homicide detectives. So where's the body?" piped up Esposito.

"The Lightwoods are an extremely rich family- one who support the mayor's campaign," Beckett replied. "Election's coming up, and a shooter on such a high-profile family? He probably want this over and done with as soon as possible."

"He wants the best," Castle added proudly. "Which is us."

"Alright, so have we I.D'd the mystery caller?" Ryan asked.

"No," she sighed. "All we know is that he works at the Lightwood Institute, and he's male. And even that's not concrete. We've got some work ahead of us."

While they weren't looking, she scooped the paper wad from the floor and tossed it with deadly aim. It bopped Castle soundly on the forehead.

She was satisfied.

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

"So who's she?" Castle asked, nodding at the one-way window. On the other side in the interrogation room, an irritated young woman sat alone. She had long dark hair, her lipstick and eye-shadow were on-point and she was very pretty. She wore tight clothes and a tight frown.

"Isabelle Lightwood. Vic's sister." Ryan said.

"She's hot," Esposito commented.

"Dude, she's like, twenty," Ryan answered, not taking his eyes away from the window as Beckett entered the interrogation room.

"I know," Esposito said hastily. "It was just an observation!"

Ryan rolled his eyes.

Castle turned to look at the interrogation about to begin.

.

"This is just routine," Beckett reassured, easily slipping into the chair across from Isabelle.

"Sure," Isabelle said. "Please tell me what the _hell_ is going on."

"Your brother was attacked."

"I know that!" she hissed. "What. The. Hell. _Happened."_

Beckett hesitated.

"I can handle the truth," Isabelle said tightly. "I'm big girl, detective."

"Someone made a call to 9-1-1 and when paramedics arrived on the scene, they found your brother unconscious, the walls riddled with bullet holes. Do you know anyone who would want to hurt your brother?"

Isabelle looked troubled. "Not really, no. Alec's a quiet guy. He's great, but he keeps to himself."

"Y'know, I was an only child, but I always wanted an older brother. I had a friend who had an older brother, and he always protected her and teased her," Beckett said empathetically.

Isabelle rolled her eyes. "I'm not stupid. You're trying to _connect_ with me, or whatever. Look, save the psychology bullshit. Alec is the best big brother I could ever ask for. He's always protected me. When Meliorn cheated on me, he helped me through it. And when he came back to my apartment, Alec punched him in the face. He'd defend anyone in trouble, though, not just me. So whoever did this to him, and whyever they did, it wasn't because he deserved it, I can tell you that much."

Beckett sighed. "Are you sure there's no one who might have a grudge against him? Exes? Enemies?"

Isabelle snorted. "Please. The closest thing _Alec_ he has to an enemy is-" she cut herself off, swallowing.

That caught Beckett's attention. "What?"

"Look, it's isn't like that. I shouldn't have said anything." Isabelle backtracked.

"Miss Lightwood, if you don't tell me what you know, we may never find out who did this to your brother." Beckett said lowly.

Isabelle gave in reluctantly. "Their feud is all talk," Isabelle stated, feeling appalled that she'd said anything at all.

"What feud?" Beckett demanded.

Isabelle sighed. "There's a guy in the office, Magnus Bane. Him and Alec have this weird... hatred thing. Not like playful banter, either, they full-on fight. They've hated each other ever since Magnus was hired, five years ago. But it's only ever once gotten physical, and that wasn't even Magnus's fault. I think Alec even apologized, he felt really bad."

Beckett and Castle exchanged a Look through the glass.

 _("How do they do that?" Esposito hissed to Ryan. He only shrugged in response.)_

"They still hate each other, though. They can't stand even being in the same room without making mean, snarky comments. It's actually really unlike Alec, but... They've always been like that. But Magnus would never do this anyway, he wouldn't hurt a fly. I didn't want to say anything because I knew you'd suspect him."

"Don't worry," Beckett said, standing. "We'll find who did this."

"You'd better," Isabelle shot back. "Are you going to interrogate all of us?"

"Probably," Beckett replied. "You've been very helpful."

She walked to the door, pausing, before turning back and saying, "I love your heels, by the way."

Isabelle grinned. "Thank you," she said.

Beckett smiled back before closing the door.

 **Yeah, I know, it sucked!**

 **Beckett is super OOC I'm sorry I just** ** _can't write her._** **She's so fucking awesome and I can't ever express that properly!**

 **:( :( :( :(**

 **): ): ): ):**

 **.**

 **Other than that, not bad for a first chapter, eh?**


	2. Chapter 2

**Look! It's a bird! It's a plane!** ** _It's the second chapter!_**

 ** _SECONDS AFTER THE FIRST ONE! WHOOOOOOOOA!_**

 **Nope. Wait. That's a bird. I now have poo on my face. Fantastic.**

 **Oh!** ** _There's_** **the second chapter! Right there, below the next few sentences! Neat-o!**

 **As for these characters, peoples and places, etc., I don't own them. I am free and unconnected from the world, un-tethered by material objects just as all Air Nomads should be** ** _. Ohm. Ohm._**

 ** _._**

" _Forget what we're told,_

 _Before we get too old..._

 _Show me a garden_

 _that's bursting into life, oh."_

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

"Uh, hi, I'm Simon," Simon said as the lady detective entered the room. "But you... Probably already knew that."

She gave him an unimpressed stare. "Detective Kate Beckett," she returned dryly. "How do you know Alexander Lightwood?"

"Alec."

"What?"

"He goes by Alec. He's my friend, I guess. We work together."

"Do you know anyone who would want to hurt him? Any suspicious people, exes, enemies?"

"Nope," Simon said. "Alec's a pretty cool guy. He doesn't really bother anybody."

"What about Magnus Bane?"

Simon narrowed his eyes. "Magnus wouldn't do this. Hell, he wouldn't even punch Alec, much less try to kill him."

"Oh?" Beckett pushed. "Do you know him well?"

"Yeah." Simon replied defiantly. "I do, actually. I like to consider him my friend. And I know that Magnus Bane is a good man. He's never actually harmed Alec before, and he wouldn't just start now."

"Like to consider?" Beckett said, raising her eyebrows. "Tell me, is this friendship one-sided?"

"No," Simon said, feeling rising anger, "No matter what he tells you. Sometimes he pretends to be a dick to get people to back off, but under all that glitter, he's one of the best people I know. So back off. In fact, I'd like my lawyer now, since all you've done so far is attack my friends."

Beckett leaned forward, narrowing her eyes, but he held her stare.

"I'm dating Isabelle Lightwood, and she could kick my ass _way_ more than you could." he said, hoping he sounded less scared than he felt. "So I'm not scared of you, lady."

The shy, awkwardness was gone, replaced by fierce protectiveness.

There was a gleam of respect in Beckett's eyes when she left.

Simon felt distinctly proud of himself for keeping it together so well.

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

"So, Raj," Beckett began, leaning over the table.

The man cowered slightly, apparently intimidated.

"How do you know Alexander Lightwood?"

"He's just a co-worker. I don't talk to him much," Raj said. "I heard he was attacked. Is he okay?"

"He's in a coma, which is why we need to know if he has any enemies, anyone who would want him dead."

"No, Alec was- _is_ -a quiet guy. Sorry, all this talk makes me feel like he's died or something..." He glanced uncertainly at the one-way mirror. "He hasn't, has he?"

"No," sighed Beckett. _Yet another dead end,_ she thought, getting up.

"Wait," Raj called thoughtfully. "Actually, now that I think of it, the guy had terrible luck with the ladies. First, rumor has it he had a thing for his brother's girl, and then... Apparently he left his fiance at the altar."

Beckett turned slowly. "What?" she gritted.

"His fiance. I don't know, I heard it through the grapevine. No one knows what really happened, though."

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

"Why didn't we know he had a fiance?" hissed Beckett. "That kind of thing should be on paper, right?"

"That's the thing, it's not," Esposito said. "But it definitely happened."

"Well, what's her name?" Castle asked.

"Lydia Branwell," Ryan said, posting a picture or a beautiful young woman on the evidence board. "Daughter of a wealthy politician. Pretty, well-connected, smart. She has a reputation for being ruthless when she wants to be, and she _was_ left at the altar."

"Why is everyone on this case so frickin' beautiful?" muttered Esposito.

"What about that other guy? Magnus Bane?" Castle asked.

Esposito posted another picture, this one of an Asian man with bright yellow-gold eyes and colorful clothing. "That's him. He's worked at the Lightwood Institute for five years. And get this- he is registered for a firearm."

"We should talk to both of them," Beckett decided. "But first, we should talk to the brother. Good work, guys."

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

Jace Lightwood sat impatiently in the dull room, fiddling with his bracelet.

It was the bracelet Alec had given him on his tenth birthday. It had some nonsense letters stitched into it- parabatai. It was just random vowels and consonants, but they'd always joked that it meant 'brothers'. Because really, that's what they were, no matter what the blood tests said.

Jace was inexplicably _worried out of his damn mind._

He shouldn't be here in an interrogation room, he should be by Alec's side, where he knew Alec would be if their places were switched.

He should be right there in that stupid hospital. He felt like he was abandoning his brother all over again.

A loud noise broke through his troubled thoughts- the door opening. A pretty detective walked in, stern but beautiful.

( _Clary was ten-thousand times prettier_ , his brain supplied.)

"Jonathan Lightwood," she said.

"At least you got the last name right," he said. "But it's Jace. Call me Jonathan again and I'll break your fingers."

 _In retrospect, it was probably a bad idea to threaten a cop,_ he thought. _This is why I need Alec. On the other hand, he'd probably say something awkward, like "Come here often?"_

"Mr. Lightwood," the lady detective drawled, once again snapping him out of his thoughts. He really needed to stop spacing out.

"Mmm?" he said, (quite unlike him to be so ineloquent) looking up.

"Are you going to answer my question?"

"Are you going to repeat it?" he quipped, giving her a crooked grin.

She was unamused. "I said, _do you know who would want to hurt your brother?"_

"Nope," he said, popping the 'p'. "My bro doesn't like to ruffle feathers. Now if you were looking for my list, well..." He made a fake sympathetic hissing noise.

She was just as unmoved as before. "Are you sure? Have you seen any strange people around lately, repairmen or janitors?"

"Nope again."

"Has he exhibited any strange behavior? Taken any drugs, had an unexplained hangover, hooked up with a lot of girls..."

"Alec's too smart to take drugs," Jace snorted. "He didn't even try it _once_ in college. And as for girls? Alec couldn't flirt his way out of a paper bag. He's a blushing, awkward mess. It's almost endearing, watching him flail."

"So nothing?"

"Well..." Jace hesitated. "There is one thing."

She pounced on the lead immediately, leaning forward almost eagerly.

He looked up. "He did get _shot at_ yesterday. That was kinda strange." he said, tapping his chin mock-thoughtfully.

She rolled her eyes, exhaling and getting up.

"Okay, we're done here," she said sharply.

"Wait, wait!" he called reluctantly. She paused.

(He didn't see the victorious smile on her face that was gone before she turned around.)

She moved back towards the table slowly.

"Look, he's been... I don't want him to get in trouble."

"Mr. Lightwood, this could save your brother's life. Whoever did this could come after him again. They're still out there. This information could help us find them." she said firmly, looking him right in the eyes.

"He's been sneaking out. He's been acting kind of weird for a while, actually. He's changed a lot in these past few years, but I never said anything cos' he actually seems... happier. And that's good, cos' Alec's always been the kind of person who would put the whole world on his shoulders. He's the most selfless guy I know, so I figured why not let him be a bit selfish? But I can tell you, it's not drugs or prostitutes or something. He's better than that."

She pursed her lips thoughtfully. "Thank you for your time, Mr. Lightwood. You've been very helpful."

"Glad to be of service, detective." he said cheerfully.

She made to leave, only for him to call out one last time.

"You better find the son-of-a-bitch that did this," Jace said, voice unusually grave. "'Cos if you don't, then we will. Alec may not realize it, but he's made a lot of friends."

The detective paused, giving him a small but genuine smile, before saying in the firmest tone he'd heard yet (but also the softest, the deadliest), "We will."

Those two words rang heavy with promise- and for once, Jace found he had respect for this woman. And maybe, just _maybe,_ a touch of fear.

(That determination in her eyes? That was the gleam Alec got, sometimes.)

 _Yeah, that lady detective will find this bastard,_ he thought. _And whoever they are... They'll regret the day they tried to kill my brother._

 _._

 **There you are! Hope you enjoyed this, because there is** ** _more to come!_**

 **(Yes, I know, it stinks, but hey, it's better than nothing!)**

 **ALSO.** ** _IMPORTANT NOTE._** **I have a Saphael fic in the works and it's cheesy and adorable as** ** _fuck._**

 **That is all, friends. That is all.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Holy Jesus Babies, another chapter?! I am spoiling you.**

 **Yeah, so I have like ten chapters already written but some of them editing. Tbh they probably all need editing because this story is literal shit, but it's so fun that I don't care.**

 **Disclaimer: There are many things in this world that are not mine (Despite my excellent spray bottle, as following the excellence of Cat) and many of the things contained within this fiction are among this list. Such as the characters, settings, and stories of Castle, or Shadowhunters. Nevertheless, enjoy them... if you** ** _dare!_**

.

.

" _We'll do it all,_

 _Everything..._

 _On our own._

 _We don't need..._

 _Anything,_

 _Or anyone."_

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

Magnus was sprawled out on the couch, hugging a pillow and biting his lip worriedly.

He wanted more than anything to be in that hospital room right now. He wanted to by Alec's side, he wanted to run his hand through Alec's unruly hair and watch over him, but he couldn't.

Magnus Bane never broke a promise. When Magnus had promised not to tell anyone, under any circumstances, about their relationship until Alec said was ready, he had known what he was getting into. Maybe he hadn't expected this, but he'd known he'd have to keep up the facade.

Honestly, the whole thing had started as a joke.

When they'd first met, they'd hated each other.

Then, like adults, they talked it out about a week later (not after hot coffee was spilled all over Magnus's third favorite shirt) and became friends. And they thought, _You know, what if we pretended to hate each other?_

It was like a game. Harmless, stupid, fun.

Then it became a challenge. They never went too far, never crossed any lines, and slowly, in the night hours, they got to know each other. They went out for coffee, they talked, they laughed, and eventually, with much blushing and stuttering, Alec asked Magnus out on a date.

And slowly, steadily, their relationship got more and more serious, and soon, the game wasn't about the fun as much anymore. It was about hiding, because Alec was scared. He had good reason to be scared, really. His parents were known homophobes, and they had no idea of knowing how his siblings, their co-workers and friends, would react. Magnus had lost many a friend when they figured out that he was bisexual. "Unnatural."

Magnus was conflicted on this subject- he didn't enjoy being a dirty little secret, necessarily, but there was something thrilling in their secret meetings and shared kisses in the dark. And as much as he disliked hiding how much he loved Alexander, he knew that he would do anything for him. It was almost dangerous how much he cared for him, but Magnus knew no one he would trust with his heart more.

Truth be told, Magnus Bane was an insecure person when it came to his relationships. After all of the people who had broken his heart, he had always had trouble trusting. Alec had unlocked something in him.

And now, his beautiful, kind Alexander was in the hospital, lying in a coma, because Magnus couldn't help him. And Magnus couldn't be there for him, couldn't demand the cops tell him everything they knew, because that would ruin everything.

He sighed heavily, clutching the small pillow closer to his chest.

"What are you sighing about?"

Magnus jumped up like a startled cat, spinning around, hissing as pain shot through his leg.

His tallest, greenest friend (Ragnor always wore almost all green, and his hair was also always dyed green) stood there, grinning.

"Ragnor!" Magnus screeched, flinging the pillow at him. "You _asshole,_ you scared the crap out of me!"

Ragnor didn't even flinch as the pillow bounced off his chest.

"That _was_ the point," he drawled. "But more to the point, what are you so sad about? Is this about your boyfriend?"

Okay, so Ragnor knew. But that _wasn't_ Magnus's fault, Ragnor was just especially observant. Also, he'd walked in on them _in flagrante delicto,_ so that was another thing.

"I'll take your silence as a _yes._ What happened? Is he alright?" Ragnor said, steadily growing more worried.

"Alec is..." Magnus internally winced at how tiny his voice sounded, wishing he had the pillow to distract himself with, "in the hospital. He's in a coma, Ragnor, he was _attacked."_

"What?" Ragnor demanded. "Magnus why aren't you-?"

Magnus gave him a sad, pleading look.

"Magnus." Ragnor stated. "Please tell me you aren't here because you don't want to tell anyone about your-"

"I _promised,_ Ragnor. You know I never break a promise." Magnus interrupted.

"I don't think he meant _this,"_ hissed Ragnor. "What happened?"

Magnus sighed. "We were in the office after-hours," he began. Ragnor waggled his green eyebrows. Magnus shot him a look. " _Not_ having sex," he said pointedly, "-but we were together, when someone started... shooting. They were definitely aiming at Alec. We got separated, one of the shots hit a heavy antique vase- which was garish and ugly, so no loss there- and it fell, and..." he choked slightly, tears pricking his eyes. "I didn't get to him in time," he said.

"Magnus, no," Ragnor warned. "I know that face, stop blaming yourself. This is _not_ your fault."

"And I'm _really_ luckily I have a high pain tolerance, because I also _may_ have gotten slightly shot?"

Ragnor 's eyes widened. " _What?!"_ he hissed.

Magnus shrugged. "I mean it was just a graze, but..."

"Where," Ragnor demanded. "Show me _now."_

Magnus gingerly pulled up his pant leg, showing the well-bandaged wound.

"Pick up some things from Catarina?" Ragnor asked, raising an eyebrow.

Magnus smiled. "Yeah."

Ragnor sighed. "You're an idiot. I suppose there's no way I can convince you to go to a proper doctor?"

"Nope." Magnus said cheerfully, sitting back down on the couch.

Ragnor sighed, sitting next to him. "What are we going to do?"

Magnus grinned. "I'm glad you asked, my dear cabbage."

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

"Did you hear what the nervous guy said?" Castle said excitedly. "He said the guy had a thing for 'his brother's girl'. And then the brother says he was sneaking out, acting funny. Almost like _he was seeing somebody._ It's not too hard to connect the dots, is it?"

"Are you suggesting Alec was sleeping with his brother's girlfriend?" Esposito asked.

"That makes sense," Beckett said thoughtfully.

"And then, maybe the brother figures out," Castle said.

"And he gets really upset!"

"His brother, the person he trusted more than anything-"

"-was sleeping with his girlfriend, another person he trusted!"

"-And he got so angry... He killed him!" Castle completed.

Their faces were inches apart, donning matching grins.

In the background, Ryan and Esposito rolled their eyes as one.

On cue, both of their gazes drifted down to the others' lips, and they leapt apart.

"Jace was raised until he was nine by one Michael Wayland, a former soldier. It's likely he knew how to use a gun." Beckett said, turning away awkwardly and tucking a curl of hair behind her ear.

"What about Bane, or the fiance?" Ryan asked.

Beckett bit her lip thoughtfully. "You two look into the brother and the girlfriend. We'll take them."

"Sounds good, boss." Esposito grinned.

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

"Lydia Branwell." Beckett stated. Castle grinned from behind her.

Lydia surveyed them both calmly. "Was that a question?" she asked dryly.

"No." Beckett said.

"Then what is this about?"

"Your ex-fiance."

She froze.

"That caught your attention, didn't it?" Castle chuckled.

Lydia sent him a dirty look. "Alec? I heard that he'd gotten attacked. Is he alright? Do you have any leads?"

"He's in the hospital," Beckett said sharply. "in a coma."

Lydia's eyes widened. "Is he going to be okay?"

"We don't know yet. Where were you between the hours of 9:30 and 11 yesterday morning?"

She looked taken aback. "I was on a plane after a business trip to London, I only got back early this morning."

"She doesn't look like she just got into the country," muttered Castle.

"That's because I know how to present myself," said Lydia with a too-pleasant smile. Castle blinked, leaning back slightly.

"Either way, why would _I_ have something to do with this?" Lydia continued, turning to Beckett.

"Your fiance left you at the altar," Beckett said. "That's bound to make anyone angry."

Lydia laughed. "Did no one tell you?"

Castle and Beckett exchanged looks.

"Tell us what?" Castle asked slowly.

"We weren't exactly... in love. The marriage was purely political. The Lightwood Institute is going downhill fast. Soon the Lightwoods will be struggling to keep their company afloat. Alec doesn't love me and I don't love him. I was willing to marry him because the love of my life died in a car accident several years ago. He's a good man, and as good as anyone. My family approved, and so did his. Apparently he came to his senses just before the vows. He said he just couldn't do it," she shrugged. "I think he had someone else. I'm happy for him. I really hope he's doing well."

She stood up.

"I have no motive, and no opportunity. So are we done here?"

Castle shot Beckett a look.

"Yeah," Beckett sighed. "We're done here."

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

"I don't think she's our killer." Castle said the second she was gone.

"I agree." Beckett said.

"I mean, did you- wait, what?"

"I said, I agree. Is that so surprising?" Beckett asked.

"No, no," Castle grinned. "I'll just mark my calender- Kate Beckett admits I'm right."

She shook her head at him, fond smile curling her lips without her knowledge as she walked out the door.

.

 **Woohoo! And** ** _you_** **get a Ragnor! And** ** _you_** **get a Lydia!** ** _Everyone gets awesome characters!_**

 ** _Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!_**

 ***cough***

 **Ahem.**

 **As I was saying, I hope you enjoyed this fictional work of mine. :)**


	4. Chapter 4

**Ah, yes, a fourth chapter... We've been expecting you... *strokes cat***

 **Disclaimer: I still own nothing. I am a freeloader, shameless and proud!**

 **.**

" _If I lay here..._

 _If I just lay here..._

 _Would you lie with me,_

 _and just forget the_

 _world?"_

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

The last thing Alec remembered was panic, fear, Magnus calling out his name, hot blood dampening his hair, wide, yellow-gold eyes full of tears.

Then everything had gone black and white and fuzzy, and then everything became nothing because Alec was _asleep._

Alec dreamt.

" _You are such an asshole, Bane," he hissed._

 _Bane laughed, beauti- stupid yellow-gold eyes sparkling with mirth. "It was just a joke, Lightworm."_

" _Don't call me that."_

" _Ligh- oh. I hadn't even realized," Bane said, and he sounded genuinely surprised. "I have a friend who knows your family- old habits, I'm afraid."_

 _Alec raised an eyebrow, but said nothing- that is, until he managed to trip over his own feet and suddenly he'd spilled his piping hot coffee all over the other man._

 _Bane yelped, gracefully long limbs suddenly awkward and flailing as he leapt back in surprise. His shirt was soaked, Alec's cup was empty, and Bane looked exactly like a drenched cat._

 _Alec couldn't help it. He laughed._

" _Oh my god," he said, grabbing a wad of napkins from a nearby table, trying to hand them to Bane. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"_

 _Bane raised an eyebrow, taking the napkins and dabbing gingerly at the coffee-stained shirt._

" _I didn't mean to laugh," Alec managed, "It's just- you really looked like a drenched cat there for a minute."_

 _After a second of horrified silence, wherein Alec mentally berated himself for actually saying that out loud, Alec closed his eyes in utter mortification._

 _An unexpected sound broke him out of his shamed reverie._

 _Laughter. He blinked his eyes open only to see Bane laughing, one hand over his mouth._

" _That's- that's..." he choked out, grinning._

 _His entire face looked different when he laughed, Alec thought._

 _When Bane was finished laughing, he turned to Alec, still wearing that stupid grin._

 _It suited him, Alec pointedly did_ not _think. (He was good at lying to himself.)_

" _Never let it be said that Magnus Bane cannot laugh at himself," Bane chuckled, beginning to peel off his shirt. Alec averted his gaze. He could feel the blush on his cheeks. He hurriedly tugged off his sweater (old, gray, and worn: just how he liked it) and offered it to Bane, still not looking._

" _You can look you know," Bane said, sounding amused. "I'm shirtless, not naked."_

 _Alec didn't say anything. Bane took the sweater, pulling it on. It was far too big on him, but somehow, he pulled it off. (Alec thought he could probably pull anything off.)_

" _How about I buy you a new coffee," Bane offered. "I did kind of soak it into my shirt. And you're letting me wear your sweater."_

" _N-no, it's fine, I'm the one who-"_

" _Nonsense!" Bane exclaimed with mock-haughtiness. "You must, sir, you must."_

 _Alec found that he was actually smiling despite himself._

 _Bane beamed as he gave an awkward little nod._

 _That was the day "Bane" became "Magnus."_

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

Ryan and Esposito listened in silence as the redhead ranted furiously, eyes slightly wide in the face of the short yet undeniably fierce young woman's anger.

"First of all, Jace would _never_ cheat on me. Just because he's had a lot of girls before doesn't mean he'd ever cheat on me- or any of them. He's not that type of guy, okay? And _secondly,_ I would never cheat on Jace, because I happen to love him." She blushed a little at admitting this out loud but barreled on, fuming. "And _thirdly,_ Alec? _Alec?_ Alec would _never_ do that to his brother. Or to me, his friend. Even if he _did_ like me like that- which he doesn't, and never has, by the way- he wouldn't act on that feeling simply because he's probably _the most selfless guy I've ever met._ He would do _literally_ _anything_ for his siblings, his friends, the people he cares about. So not only does it piss me off you think so lowly of me, but also of my boyfriend and one of my friends?"

She leaned back. "And even if- for some _ridiculous_ reason, me and Alec were having an affair, or Jace thought we were having an affair- which, again, would _never_ happen- this is not how Jace would react at all. He would probably revert back to like he was when he first arrived at the Lightwoods- and if he _did_ go on the offense- another thing that would never happen- he wouldn't use a gun, and if he _did-_ he wouldn't miss. Think of all the impossibilities that have to happen for your story to make sense, detective, and then have a little respect."

Suddenly out of breath, she leaned back in her chair, lips still pursed.

"Well, I like to believe six impossible things before breakfast." Ryan said brightly. Esposito elbowed him.

"Thank you for your time, ma'am," Esposito said evenly.

She only glared. They exited quickly.

"She reminds me of Beckett," Ryan whispered uneasily.

Before Esposito could reply, Ryan's phone went off.

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

"Boss, they found some blood at the crime scene." Ryan reported, holding up a folder, presumably full of photos.

Beckett took the file, flipping it open. "Are they running a test?"

"Yeah, but it won't be back for a few hours."

"Where could the blood have come from if the guy wasn't hit?" Esposito asked.

"Maybe Alec fought his attacker." Ryan piped up.

"Then there might be some other evidence at the crime scene." Beckett said.

"Guys," Castle said, an _aha!_ on his face. "If Alec fought psychically with our attacker, there might be some skin under his fingernails."

"And with that much blood- too much for just a scratch or two-" Beckett began.

"-then there'll also be damage on the killer!" Castle finished.

"Whoa there," Esposito said. "You're getting ahead of yourselves. How about you go check and see if he has skin under his fingernails at all?"

Castle's grin faded. "Ah. Right." he said.

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

"So we're actually just gonna go look under a comatose guy's fingernails?" Castle asked.

"What else are we supposed to do?" Beckett said, putting her hands in her pockets as they walked through the mostly empty hallway. "DNA results haven't come back yet, Ryan and Esposito are still looking into the brother, so unless you wanna go over Magnus Bane's profile again-"

"We could interrogate him." he said.

She sighed. "Not yet, Castle. He's one of our prime suspects- I want to have as much leverage as possible when we get to him. I've already dug up some things, but..."

"Dug up some things?" he asked, perking up. "Like what?"

"Not pretty stuff, Castle."

Castle motioned for her to go on.

"He grew up with his stepfather and his alcoholic mother- until she killed herself when he was ten. A year later, the stepfather died in a _freak accident_ down by the nearby river. He was tossed from foster home to foster home until he was eighteen, when he left the system, bought a gun and learned how to use it, and got his own apartment."

Castle sat up, eyes lighting up with a new story to spin even as he frowns at the tragedy of such a childhood. "Alright. So Bane's mother dies, and who does he blame? His stepfather, the guy who married her who isn't his real dad. Maybe he has hidden violent tendencies or anger issues, and one day, he snaps, accidentally kills the stepfather, and covers it up. He goes from foster home to foster home, getting kicked out repeatedly, until eventually he relies on only himself to survive- even getting a gun to ward off thieves and bad memories. Then, he meets Alec Lightwood. Maybe he reminds him of his stepfather. Maybe he just doesn't like him. But eventually Lightwood presses the wrong buttons, goes too far, and he snaps. Brings his gun from home and shoots at the guy until the vase knocks him out clean."

After a moment, Beckett nodded. "Alright, I'll buy it. Then why was Alec sneaking out at night?"

Castle winced. "Uh, unrelated reasons?"

She snickered, shaking her head.

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

 _Magnus and Alec had known each other for over a year now. They were actually pretty good friends now... They talked, they marathoned TV shows and movies (who knew Magnus was as much of a total nerd as he was?) and shared opinions on books and literature and everything. Now that they actually talked and listened, they just clicked._

 _Not that anyone at the office knew that._

 _It was fun, bickering in public. Sometimes they'd even discuss what they could say the next day, planning out reactions, because it was like a game._

 _Right now, though, what Alec was about to do, was no game._

 _Alec wasn't blind or heterosexual. Magnus was attractive, really attractive._

 _He was all golden bronze skin and bright yellow eyes, shimmering glitter and fashionable clothes, tall and lithe muscle and spiky, colorful hair._

 _Alec was... plain. Scarred and pale with limp, messy dark hair and boring hazel eyes._

 _Plain. Boring. Coward. All words Alec easily used to describe himself._

 _But he was still going to do this._

 _He, Alec Lightwood, was going to ask Magnus Bane out on a date. A proper one._

 _Alec exhaled, looking back at his plain reflection in the old mirror leaning against the wall. Now, he thought. The time is now._

 _He turned to leave the janitor's closet where he was hiding. He knew Magnus would be waiting outside, and he braced himself._

 _Alec opened the door, and stepped out of the closet._

 _(For now, it was enough.)_

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

"We interrogated Clary, the brother's girlfriend. No way that girl was cheating with Alec." Ryan said. "She was scary. Also, her and her blondie boyfriend are sickeningly in love."

"Yeah, and we got the DNA back on both the blood and the skin you found," Esposito added grimly. "They're both a match. To Magnus Bane."

 **.**

 **Oh noooooo!**

 **Yeah, we all saw something like this coming...**

 **Just gonna warn you now, there are some awfully convenient clues and events and shit because I'm terrible, so don't expect a riveting plot twist or unexpected HOLY SHIT moments.**

 **Probably. If there is one, I'll be just as surprised as you... But hey, who knows?**


	5. Chapter 5

**So soon? Another chapter!? It must be magic!**

 **Yeah, I have the first like 10 chapters written but a lot of them need a shit ton of editing so I'm not posting them all at once. But after Chapter Ten updates will probably get a** ** _lot_** **slower. But after that I'll probably only need a few chapters anyway, so...**

 **Also: Saphael fic hopefully done soon. It's amusing and stupid and basically like 90% crack.**

 **Anyway, I still own nothing as I am a giant spider, dancing on a keyboard, and thereby unable to do the necessary paperwork to own all of these wonderful characters, backstories, and places.**

 **Thank you for putting up with my bullshit, readers! :D**

 _ **WARNING: tragic backstories ahead!**_

" _I don't know where..._

 _Confused about how as well,_

 _Just know that these things_

 _will never_

 _change for us_

 _at all..."_

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

Magnus Bane sat nervously in the uncomfortable chair.

He was good enough at mastering his facial expression that his distress was not _too_ visible, and yet he was fiddling with his rings, twitching, quite obviously worried.

He exhaled, wondering what was _taking so goddamn long._

Finally, the door opened, a petite brunette and _Richard Castle_ walking in.

Magnus wouldn't admit (out loud) to being a total fangirl, but he had to admit (in the privacy of his own thoughts and _absolutely nowhere else_ ), he was a bit _absolutely_ starstruck.

"Hello," he said, cursing internally when it came out a bit squeaky. He cleared his throat.

"Detective Kate Beckett," the woman introduced. Then she gestured to the famous author. "Richard Castle."

As if Magnus didn't know.

"Ah, yes." he said, relieved when he sounded as put-together as ever. "The writer and the detective. I've heard rumors."

Beckett gave him a look. Castle grinned.

"So... why am I here?" Magnus said casually, as if he didn't know exactly why he was here.

"Alec Lightwood was attacked two days ago." Beckett said. "Where were you between 9:30 and 11 that night?"

"I was alone, at my loft," Magnus answered reluctantly.

"So you're saying you have no alibi." Beckett said flatly.

Magnus gave a curt nod. "'Fraid so," he said.

"Hmm, that's strange," she said. "'Cause, see, we found some blood at the crime scene. Alec Lightwood fought off his attacker- he had skin under his fingernails. Your skin."

The blood must've come from his own bullet wound. Briefly, Magnus wondered where the skin could have come from. Then he remembered how they'd spent the night _before,_ and he chuckled under his breath.

Wrong reaction.

Beckett shot him an almost disgusted look.

"Alright," he said. "Entertaining your frankly ridiculous notion that I would actually try to kill Lightworm, what's my motive?"

"You hated the guy," Castle said.

"That's it? That's all you got? I hated the guy? Seriously?"

"Well, let's see. You were raised by an alcoholic mother and your stepfather. Until you were nine." Beckett read flatly.

Magnus's jaw clenched.

She looked up. "Then it was just you and your stepfather, for a year, until he died in a _freak accident._ So what? You blamed your stepfather for your mother's death, and one day, you just... snapped?"

Magnus was shaking now, from anger or fear even he wasn't sure. "You know what they say about assumptions, detective?" he asked.

"So maybe you have anger issues. You get kicked from foster home to foster home. Eventually, you get booted out of the system entirely. You buy a gun- one that matches the weapon that fired at Lightwood- and you being to make your way in the world."

"You're wrong." Magnus said lowly. "You know nothing about my so-called parents."

"Oh, really? So you didn't kill your stepfather then?"

"It was self-defense!" Magnus burst out. "I was ten, he tried to- he kept-" He put his head in his hands. "It wasn't like that, okay?"

"Then what happened?" she asked gently.

He exhaled shakily. Magnus couldn't believe he was actually telling them this, but it was too late to back out now. She'd only keep pushing if he didn't talk. "My mother cheated on him. That's how I was born. She was addicted to drugs and alcohol, which is why my eyes are so fucked up. My stepfather found out and he was furious. She got more and more depressed. He started beating her. She couldn't stand the sight of me. Eventually, she couldn't take it. She hung herself in the barn. My stepfather, of course, rightfully guessed it was my fault that his wife was dead. So he turned to beating me instead. It went on for about a year before one day, he got particularly pissed off and drunk and decided to try to drown me. He'd locked me outside or in the barn before, but he'd never outright tried to kill me until then. I panicked, I screamed as he put my head under the water multiple times, but nobody came. So I grabbed onto anything that could get me away from him, and somehow I managed to get out of his grip and onto land... but I accidentally sent him over the edge." He hid his head in his hands again, trembling. "Is that what you wanted to hear, detective? Are you going to arrest me for killing my parents?"

"No." she said quietly. "But that proves nothing in the current case."

"You're wrong about that too," he said into his hands. "I can't prove it, but I didn't do it."

"Am I? Then what the hell is your DNA doing at that crime scene? Why is your skin under his fingernails? Why did your gun try to kill him? Why did you call 9-1-1 that night?"

"How did you know I called-?" he asked, then his facial expression shut down in realization. But it was too late.

Her lips curled into a victorious smile. "So if you were at your loft, how did you make that call?"

Magnus's eyes were wide. "I... Okay, so I wasn't at my loft the whole time. But I knew how it looked! Guy finds his worst enemy on the ground bleeding, he's gonna be the first suspect. I shoulda just come clean from the start."

"Yes, you should have." she stated. "Magnus Bane, you're under arrest for the attempted murder of Alexander Lightwood. You have the right to..."

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

"Guys..." Jace said lowly. "We're gonna have to accept that maybe... Just maybe... Magnus did this."

"How can you say that?" Simon demanded.

Clary sighed sadly. "Simon, he has a point. Did you know that Magnus owns a _gun?"_

"It's for break-ins and stuff," Simon said. "He doesn't even keep it loaded!"

They were in the police station, having received the news that the would-be assassin had been caught.

"This doesn't sit right with me," Isabelle said, narrowing her eyes.

The two people from earlier- the detective and the writer- were walking out the interrogation room. Magnus was led out, cuffed, moments later, slowly being led in the opposite direction. Immediately, Isabelle went after him.

The two from the door were still fighting.

"I don't think he did this," the man mused.

"Castle, you're the one who thought he did it in the first place," the woman said.

"But it doesn't make _sense,_ " Castle insisted. "Why would he make the 9-1-1 call? What's the point?"

"He's got DNA at the crime scene. He can be place at the office during the time-frame of the attack. He's got motive. You know abuse victims can grow up to have violent tendencies. Just because his story is sad doesn't mean he can't grow up to be a monster." she said back evenly.

They weren't exactly being quiet. A few yards away, Magnus flinched as if he'd been slapped.

"Oh, _hell_ no." Simon said.

He marched up to them, completely ignoring _how bad of an idea this was_ and the hissed warnings from his friends in favor of prodding the female with one long finger and saying sharply, "Magnus is _not_ a monster. Even if he did this- which, by the way, there is _no way_ he did- he has never been, nor ever will be- a monster. So you can... _shut up."_

Magnus was giving him such a grateful, somewhat shocked look, Simon kind of wanted to punch someone. Why was Magnus so stunned someone would defend him like that?

He was snapped back into reality as he suddenly remembered where he was and what he was doing.

Beckett didn't look offended, thank god.

"I meant no disrespect," she said, with a touch of shame.

"No _disrespect?"_ he demanded. "You _literally-"_

It was at this point his friends- namely, in this case, Jace and Clary- dragged him away, muttering half-apologies.

Castle turned back to Beckett, now keeping his voice lower as he continued to theorize.

 _If we're going to prove Magnus didn't do this,_ Simon thought, _We're gonna need to find out who did. And now I know just who to ask for help..._

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

" _Alec!" someone called. Most of the office looked up._

 _Alec sighed, looking up warily to see his sister approaching, apparently uncaring of the eyes she was drawing._

" _Alec!" she said again, reaching his desk._

" _What?" he asked, slightly irritated. He knew she meant well._

" _Go on lunch with me?" she asked. "Please? I wanna talk to you about something."_

" _Sure," he said, getting up. "But you're paying this time."_

 _As they walked down to the cafeteria, she was sending him suspicious looks._

" _What's gotten into you lately?" she asked. "You seem... different."_

 _He frowned. "What do you mean?"_

" _It's not a bad different," she clarified hastily. "It's just... you're smiling a lot more now."_

 _She studied his face. Then, she lit up. "Oh. My. God!" she shrieked. "You like someone! Who is he? What does he look like? Is he cute? Does he like you?"_

 _Alec knew he was blushing, and internally cursed himself for being so easily flustered._

" _Izzy..." he protested. "No, I don't, okay?"_

" _Sure," she said skeptically. "And that new guy, Magnus Bane. What do you think about him?"_

" _He's an asshole," Alec said automatically, forcing himself not to grin._

 _She raised an eyebrow. "He seemed nice enough. He has good taste, at least... And you can't deny that he's gorgeous. Even you can spot a damn good ass."_

 _Alec rolled his eyes. "I never said he wasn't pretty. But just because he has an ass doesn't mean he isn't an ass."_

 _Isabelle grinned. "Ah, there's the grumpy-face I know and love," she cooed._

 _He laughed, stealing one of her fries._

" _Alec!" she said. "No stealing my fries! You know this!"_

 _He stole another fry, knowing it would distract her from the subject._

 _In the end, she did forget about it (for now) even if she had her suspicions._

 _But while she would never quite drop it completely, she also never pushed too far. And for that, Alec was grateful._

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

"Okay, kid, but why come to me?" Castle asked.

Tall, Awkward, and Gangly gave him a determined look. "Because Magnus didn't do this, and you believe that."

"Whoa, whoa, I never said I think he's innocent. I said something's hinky about this whole thing," Castle denied.

"Look, either way, do you want an innocent man to go to prison? I just wanna look at the surveillance tapes. Look for anything suspicious."

"The cameras were down at the time of the shooting," Castle said. "Another reason they suspect your friend- an inside job."

"No," Simon said patiently, "Tapes from before. See who's hanging around, maybe watching Alec too much or taking Magnus's things for DNA or something."

Castle lit up. "That's brilliant!" he beamed.

Simon gave him a tentative smile. "Uh, thanks?" he said uncertainty.

Castle gave him a considering look. "Hmm. I like you."

"So you'll get the surveillance tapes?"

"Yep!" Castle said, getting up to leave. "I'll be back."

"How are you going to...?"

Castle grinned. "Wouldn't you like to know?"

 **I know this chapter is kind of short but I hope you liked it anyway.**

 **The next chapter will be brought to you in a few minutes by Jesus.**

 **Just kidding. I'm not Jesus. (Or am I?)**

 **(No. I'm not. Actually, I'm probably the Anti-Christ. Good luck with that.)**

 **Also: If you're wondering what all these companies** ** _do,_** **like what the fuck Lightwood Industries** ** _is,_** **I have no fucking idea. They're an office building, okay? I don't know. There's nothing specific.**


	6. Chapter 6

**I hope you like this chapter, my friends! More Ragnor! Yaaaaaaaaaay!**

 **I still own nothing, by the way, in case you were wondering. I am but a poot, lowly monk with excellent WiFi and an old laptop run on mouse-power at the top of a non-existent mountains (no mountains are real.)**

" _All that I am,_

 _All that I ever was..._

 _Is here in your perfect eyes,_

 _they're all I can see..."_

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

Isabelle Lightwood knew a lot of things.

Clouds aren't tangible, penguins don't have knees, her older brother is gay.

Her brother had nearly had a panic attack when he found out about that last one. He was many things (endearing, awkward, strong) and oblivious was one of them.

(As if she would care that he was gay. Hell, as if she was completely straight herself.)

The question was, had he been seeing Magnus Bane when he was shot?

Or did Magnus shoot him?

Because she was pretty sure that it was one or the other, and she knew which was far more likely.

(She'd been 90% sure that he had a crush on Magnus Bane since that lunch not too long after Magnus had shown up. As if stealing her fries could distract her!)

Perhaps it was time to have a long overdue chat with a certain glittery dork.

She pulled out her phone, smiling.

"Simon?" she asked.

"Uh, h-hi, Isabelle!"

She narrowed her eyes but put aside his suspicious behavior for the moment.

"Could you hack the police station for a minute with your genius computer skills?"

(She could've sworn she heard in the background a male someone saying _genius computer skills?!_ But she dismissed it. For now.)

"Uh, yeah, I guess. Why?"

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

"When do you think he's going to wake up?" Clary asked, sighing into Jace's shoulder.

The two were curled up on the cramped loveseat in the hospital room. She couldn't help but think Magnus must be cold right now.

Jace sighed heavily. "Clary... There's no way of knowing. It could be hours, or days, or weeks, or months, or _years._ "

She exhaled shakily. "I just feel so helpless," Clary said, burying her face back in his shoulders.

He didn't try to give her useless platitudes, or promises he couldn't keep. He just hugged her closer, looking over at where Alec lay, motionless and clothed in all white.

It would be another long night.

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

Alec slept on, dead to the world.

And he dreamt.

 _It was their fourth date._

 _Their first date had gone laughably bad- a total disaster- which, of course, meant that in the end, it was perfect._

 _It had ended in a kiss (and Alec falling down the stairs- he really, really hoped Magnus hadn't heard that) and Alec has left floating on Cloud Nine._

 _The next date had gone very well- a coffee shop on the other side of town, much like the one this had all started in- and the third, despite the fact it had ended in a rather wild adventure that had ended in the river (after Magnus's cat had ran off and his boyfriend- wow, Magnus was his boyfriend- had ran right after him) had been great._

 _And now, this one. It had also gone amazingly- Alec had never had as much fun in his life as he did with Magnus Bane._

 _This particular date had been at a little hole-in-the-wall Italian place with excellent service and delicious food. It wasn't too fancy, but honestly, that was a good thing. It would've only made Alec stutter-y and awkward._

 _As it was, the two only shared comfortable conversation and good food. Already, after their just-over-a-year of friendship and four dates, Alec felt more at ease with Magnus than he did with most people after years and years._

 _He looked back up to see Magnus studying him closely, beaming as if he was looking at something captivating and beautiful. (Alec wondered how Magnus could look at him like that.)_

" _Do I have something on my face?" he blurted._

 _Magnus smiled. "Nope," he said._

 _The waitress introduced. "Can I get you dessert?"_

" _Tiramsu, please," they both said at the same time._

 _She smiled at them. "You two are so cute! All of us thought so!" she said. Alec spotted a group of serving staff and cooks trying to look nautral as if they hadn't all been just watching them. Magnus gave them a cheerful wave._

" _I hope you don't mind us asking, but, how long have you been together?" the waitress continued, still smiling widely._

" _This is our fourth date," Alec said quietly._

 _She gasped. "Really? Wow! I was pegging somewhere over a year. You two really go together well!"_

" _Thank you," Magnus said cheerfully. "I agree."_

 _Alec ducked his head as if to hide his small, pleased grin._

 _The waitress made a faint squealing noise._

 _(The other waitstaff and cooks made similar noises in the distance.)_

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

"Can I talk to you guys for a minute?" Castle asked quietly.

"Sure, man," Ryan said, getting up, Esposito following closely behind.

Castle led them to a remote corner of the station where no one would be listening.

"Something about this whole case doesn't sit right with me," he finally said once they were alone. "Would you mind looking into the other suspects?"

Esposito sighed. "What other suspects, Castle?" he asked.

"The parents!" Castle said. "They arranged a marriage for money and poltical standing that their son backed out on. Or whoever Alec was really sneaking out to see. I don't know."

Ryan frowned, giving him a searching look. "You're really sure about this, aren't you?" he asked.

"Yes." Castle said firmly. "I'm not saying I'm one hundred percent certain the guy's innocent, but..."

"...You wanna be absolutely sure," Esposito finished. "Yeah, I get that."

"Well," Ryan said, "Beckett never said that we couldn't investigate other leads,"

"But it's gonna cost you," Esposito smirked.

"Ferrari for the weekend?" Castle offered.

The two detectives grinned.

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

"Genius computer skills?" Castle demanded once he'd hung up, sounding a strange mix of excited and incredulous.

"What?" Simon asked defensively, reaching for his laptop.

"Why come to me if you could _hack_ the station?" Castle asked.

"I prefer the legal way when possible. Uh, speaking of which, you're not going to...?"

"No, I won't turn you in. Can I just say, hacking skills? _Super cool."_

Simon grinned. "Well, can I just say, writing books? _Super cool."_

Castle grinned right back, before turning to his own computer. _"_ Now, are we actually going to look at these surveillance tapes?"

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

"You have a visitor, Mr. Bane," the guard said.

The second he turned around and the door closed, Ragnor started shouting.

" _You fucking idiot!"_

Magnus absentmindedly wondered if these cells were soundproof.

"You should just tell them," Ragnor hissed.

"Ragnor, I can't. You know why."

"What, because you _promised?_ Screw the promise, Magnus, this is your life! Are you _insane?"_

"No need to abuse the italics," Magnus muttered, flitting over the fourth wall casually.

"What?" Ragnor asked.

"Nothing. Anyway, you know I couldn't do that to him."

Ragnor sighed. "How's your leg?"

Magnus opened his mouth to reply. The door slammed open.

Isabelle Lightwood strode into the holding cell in all her glory.

"Magnus Bane, are you dating my brother?" she demanded.

.

 **OOOOOOOH CLIFFHANGER.**

 **Yeah. Izzy is a BAMF. Don't mess with her or her family.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Yeah, yeah, another chapter already, as promised.**

 **Honestly, I'm spoiling you guys.**

 **No, it's not mine, and yes, I still have no fucking idea what Alec, Magnus, and literally** ** _anyone_** **not from the Castle canon do for a living.**

" _If I lay here,_

 _If I just lay here..._

 _Would you lie with me,_

 _and just forget the world?_

 _Forget what we're told,_

 _Before we get too old..._

 _Show me a garden,_

 _that's bursting into life, oh."_

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

"We're not making any progress," Simon groaned. "It's been _hours."_

"Ugh. I know," Castle said.

"Waitwaitwait," Simon said. "Go back."

Castle obliged, searching for whatever Simon was seeing.

"There's something off there." Simon said. He was watching one of the many instances in which Alec and Magnus were bickering, but now, they could see it from a third person respective.

"You're right," Castle said. "I don't know what it is, but something's hinky."

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

"Dad! Dad! Maria doesn't hate me!" Alexis beamed.

"What?" he asked. Simon sat up behind him.

"Maria. The girl I told you about. Turns out she just really likes me...!"

"That's it!" Castle said suddenly.

Alexis looked like she wasn't surprised by the interruption. Castle grinned, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek. "Thanks, honey!" he said, darting to the door.

"Does this happen often?" Simon asked.

"All the time," she sighed. She turned to him, smiling flirtatiously. "So who are you?"

"Simon Lewis, hacker extraordinaire," he replied. "And not gonna lie, once you would have been exactly my type, but now I have an awesome girlfriend who can kick my ass."

She shrugged shamelessly. "Oh, well. Had to try. Not often Dad brings cute guys my age around. So you're trying to clear your friend's name, right? How can I help?"

"Oh, uh... Well," Simon said.

She gave him a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, my dad always talks about his cases to us. And I'm really bored, so..."

He shrugged. "I guess more help couldn't hurt."

Alexis grinned. "Great."

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

Magnus sputtered. "W-what?"

"Are you. Dating. My brother." Isabelle demanded again.

Ragnor chuckled in the background, clearly enjoying Magnus's distress. Traitor.

"I- I don't know what you mean," he said, collecting himself.

"Oh, good." she said, all of her righteous fury gone in an instant. "You two are so cute together!"

"What? I didn't-"

"I'm not stupid, Magnus, you basically just confirmed it."

"Oh, I like this one," Ragnor laughed.

"Simon helped me put the cameras on loop temporarily, so no one knows we're having this conversation. So why haven't you come clean?"

"I like her even more now!" Ragnor said. "She has _logic._ Unlike a certain lovesick glitterball I could mention."

Magnus glared at him. "I promised Alec I'd never..."

Isabelle raised an eyebrow. "And you're keeping that promise despite it possibly sending you to _prison?"_

"It's likely only going to be temporary," he said, waving impatiently. "They'll find the real assassin. And yes, I always keep my promises. Especially to him."

Isabelle looked him up and down.

"Impressive," she said. "But also stupid."

"You are an _idiot,"_ Ragnor said. "A loyal idiot, but an idiot all the same! They might not look any further, Magnus!"

"Then when Alec wakes up, he can set them straight."

"What if he never wakes up?" Ragnor blurted. "What if he wakes up too late?"

Magnus looked down.

There was a long pause.

"I'm not betraying him, Ragnor."

"What if I told them?" Isabelle said.

"No!" Magnus shouted. "The whole point is that it's his secret to keep! It could rip apart his career, his parents, and God knows what else!"

There was a clang as the door opened and a guard interrupted. "Time's up," he said gruffly.

"You can't tell anyone. _Please."_ Magnus pleaded.

Ragnor and Isabelle were escorted out, leaving Magnus alone in the holding cell feeling more helpless than ever.

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

"Izzy will be here soon," Simon said. "You'll love her. I think you two would really-"

"Look at this." Alexis interrupted suddenly.

"What?" Simon asked, easily abandoning the awkward small talk and perking up. "Did you find something?"

"I think so. Look. See... _him?_ That guy with your girlfriend? This tape is from almost a year ago. That's Meliorn Queen."

"Yeah, Isabelle's ex. They broke up soon after that. He was kind of a dick, to be honest. He cheated on her."

"Yeah, well, look at last week's tape."

She zoomed in on a shadow figure that was looking directly at Alec. The figure was barely was barely in the shot.

It was Meliorn.

There was a dramatic pause.

"He looks like a dick," Alexis observed.

Simon laughed.

There was a knock on the door.

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

"Seems the main headquarters of Morgenstern Enterprises in New York..." Esposito sighed.

"Is a big _boat?"_ Ryan finished, aghast. "But I get seasick."

"We're not at sea, you big baby," Esposito grinned. "We'll be at dock the whole time. Look, there's the entrance."

"Whoa," whistled Ryan, spotting the guard. "That guy is _huge."_

"We're here to see Valentine Morgenstern," Esposito said as they approached, showing his badge.

The stone faced guard didn't say anything. He simply stepped aside, allowing entrance to the huge boat.

As they were lead through surprisingly elaborate hallways until they arrived in a dark, fancy office.

The guard left them there, saying in a deep voice that they would be attended to as soon as possible.

Ryan shifted nervously. "Man, aren't you creeped out? Even a little bit?"

"Nah, of course not," Esposito grinned. "Why would this creaky old boat scare me?"

"This creaky old boat cost several million dollars." a low, velvet voice came from behind them.

Esposito nearly jumped ten feet in the air. They both whirled around to see a young man with a cold, thin-lipped smile and stark white hair.

"How may I help you, detectives?" he asked.

"Valentine Morgenstern?" Ryan asked.

"Sebastian Morgenstern," the man said. "My father isn't... available right now. He's away in London business. He has been for a few weeks now. He'll be back in a few days."

"Do you know Alec Lightwood?" Esposito asked.

"I heard he was attacked. I presume that's why you're here?"

"Yes," Ryan said shortly. "Do you know anything about it, Sebastian?"

"Yes," Sebastian said.

"What do you know?" Esposito asked, both of them surprised by the easily given information.

"That someone- Magnus Bane, to be specific- was arrested already," Sebastian said. "And therefore, you are wasting my time. Unless you have a warrant, security will escort you out."

He waved mockingly as the security guard (who came out of _nowhere_ ) grabbed them, his obnoxiously expensive ruby ring winking in the light.

.

"Man, you know we can't get a warrant without proof, right?" Esposito said.

"Well, we can't get proof without a warrant!" Ryan replied, frowning.

"Should we move on to Dumort for now?"

Ryan sighed. "For now," he said.

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

"Lanie, I don't know what to do." Beckett sighed.

"Kate, if you say that Bane is guilty, he's guilty. But the question is, why do you think he's guilty?" Lanie asked gently.

"I... My gut."

"Okay. What's your gut saying?"

"That I can't trust him."

"Why?"

She sighed rubbing her eyes. "He just... It's like, he reminds me of this guy, back in college. He was a total dick, but he was charming and he stood out. He'd make girls feel special, he'd walk around looking all handsome and fashionable, then he'd draw them in and destroy them."

Beckett looked down. "One of my friends in college dated him for a while. She was never the same afterwards. She _trusted_ him, and..."

She looked back up at Lanie, eyes dark and serious. "...Bane has the same swagger to his walk. That same... stupid grin. I don't trust him at all. Is that... is that wrong?"

Lanie sighed, putting a hand on her shoulder comfortingly. "No, honey, that's not wrong. It's instinct, and your instincts are rarely wrong. But I'll say, when I talked to him-"

"You talked to him?! When?"

"When he was first brought in, calm down, girl! Anyway, I didn't get that impression. But I haven't had my heart broken, Kate. I don't have that instinct."

Beckett's shoulders slumped. "I don't know what to do."

"Tell you what," Lanie said. "I bet you Castle's investigating other leads right now. If you want... You could help. Or, you can trust your gut. But it couldn't hurt, could it?"

Beckett gave her a grateful smile. "No, I guess not."

"That's my girl."

 **I feel like I really fucked up Beckett, honestly, but I tried, okay?**

 **I'm sorry. Hopefully you enjoyed it despite that!**

 **:D**


	8. Chapter 8

**Oh my sweet lord another chapter?**

 **Yeah the more I update the less I'll have to give later but tbh I can't bring myself to care because I'm so proud that I actually wrote a chapter.**

 **DISCLAIMER: Do I own these things? Nope. Nada. Ni. Ney. Nah.**

 **.**

" _Let's waste time..._

 _Chasing cars,_

 _Around our heads..._

 _I need your grace,_

 _To remind me..._

 _To find my own,"_

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

"I figured it out!" someone said loudly as the outside door banged open.

Magnus turned to look through the steel grate of his cell door to see _Richard Castle._

"Figured what out?" he asked dryly, examining his (neon green! What a nice shade, too) nails as if he was extremely disinterested. _Why did it have to be one of my favorite authors? Why?_

"Well, I was already pretty sure you didn't do it," Castle began, "But I was looking over the surveillance tapes, and there's something off about this whole hatred thing."

Magnus tried very hard not to panic.

"You don't hate him at all, do you?" Castle continued, grinning proudly like a child who had mastered a puzzle.

 _He figured it out,_ Magnus thought, shoulders slumping slightly. _Alec is going to kill me._

Seeing his defeated posture, Castle straightened, knowing that he must be right if Magnus was reacting this way.

"You had a crush on him!"

 _Maybe not._

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

"Simon," Isabelle called through the door, "Is this the right address?"

"Yeah," Simon said, swinging it open and greeting her with a kiss (which she gladly returned). "Come in, we're just figuring some things out."

"We're? Simon, what are we doing here?"

Alexis popped into view from the door frame. "We're looking for clues on old surveillance tapes to clear your friend's name."

"Ah," Isabelle said pleasantly. "So, what's your name?"

"Alexis Castle. He was helping out my dad until my dad had one of his _eureka_ moments and ran off to do something stupid. So I'm helping now."

Seeing the look on her face, Alexis added, "I'm not worried. Detective Beckett will keep him safe. And you don't have to worry about me nabbing your cute boyfriend. He's adorable, but I don't go for other people's boys."

" _Oh-_ kay," Isabelle said after a moment. "So, whatchya got?"

"Remember Meliorn?" Simon piped up, leading her into the living room and to the laptop.

"That dick Alec punched in the face?"

"Yeah, him. Look at this."

He showed her what they had found.

She swore. "Fuck! I should have known he was bad news, with his stupid pretentious accent and weird-ass leaf tattoo!"

"The question is," Alexis said, "Why would he want to kill your brother?"

"I don't know," Isabelle said, mystified. "I mean, Alec _did_ punch him in the face, but that was awhile back and it's not like there was permanent damage or anything."

"Did he act strange while you were dating? Ask about Alec or something?"

"Actually..." Isabelle said. "He did! I remember! He steered the conversation towards our families, and... He made some harmless comment and got me started on a rant."

Simon nodded sympathetically, like he knew _all_ about Isabelle's rants.

"You know how much I hate people belittling Alec. I went on a huge tirade about what a fucking _genius_ he is. But afterwards, he didn't look mad, he just sort of looked... pleased. Satisfied. I didn't notice at the time, but... Looking back..."

"But that still begs the question...why?" Alexis asked.

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

Ryan and Esposito looked up at the big, gloomy building labeled _**DUMORT INSDUSTRIES**_.

"Oh, this looks fun," muttered Esposito.

They entered in the lobby, approaching the front desk with badges out.

"NYPD," Ryan said. "We're here to talk to Raphael Santiago, the CEO?"

"Right here," drawls someone form behind them.

A pale man with neat dark hair and a pure black suit strolled lazily through the twin doors. The epitome of stereotypical, rich Evil. (Now all he need was a fat, furry gray cat to stroke creepily in his lap.)

("He looks like a fucking _vampire,_ " Esposito hissed to Ryan. Ryan elbowed him.)

"Mr. Santiago," Ryan said, holding up his badge. "We're here to talk to you about Alec Lightwood."

"I heard what happened. Will he be alright?" Santiago looked almost bored, but there was a note of genuine concern in his voice.

"He's in a coma," Esposito said. "But other than that, yeah."

"We have reason to believe it is quite possible that one of Lightwood Industries' rivals is behind this attack," Ryan said, holding out two pictures- one of Alec, slightly bruised in the hospital bed, the other of the crime scene, bullet holes and blood. Santiago barely glanced at them.

"Of course it's quite possible," Santiago says dryly, "And let me guess- you think we might have done it. Namely, I. Unfortunately for you and your theory, that's not how this business works. Perhaps if our previous CEO was still here, _she_ would do something so vile, but..." he shrugged. "I'm afraid you've looked in the wrong place."

"That _is_ exactly what the guilty person would say," Ryan pointed out.

"Ah," Santiago sighed. "So I am your prime suspect, then?"

"Actually, no," Esposito said. "That would be Magnus Bane, a co-wor-"

" _Magnus Bane?"_ Santiago demanded. He cursed in Spanish. " _Dios,_ what has that idiot got himself into now? We should talk somewhere more privately."

"You know him?" Ryan asked, raising his eyebrows as Santiago led them into an empty office.

"Yes, unfortunately," Santiago replied, massaging his temples. "We met a long time ago. His eyeliner is always on point, he's always getting into trouble, and he has a terrible penchant for too much glitter. But he's also harmless, for the most part."

"For the most part?" Esposito asked, raising his eyebrows exactly as Ryan had moments ago.

Santiago sighed. "Magnus Bane- and if he ever learns that I said this, I will slit your throats- is one of the most fiercely loyal, protective, and kind people I have ever met. If someone were to hurt someone he cared about, I wouldn't put it past him to destroy them. But even if he did hate the Lightwood boy in such a manner, it wouldn't be like that at all," he said, gesturing to the photo of the crime scene. "It'd have more finesse- and there wouldn't be a mark on him. There wouldn't need to be." He gave them a creepy smile, humorless, and in the shadows it almost looked fanged.

After a moment, he gave them an utterly _irritated_ sigh and said, "Look, I'd recommend you check out Seelie, Inc. They've been pretty shady lately. Now get out of my office, I have a meeting soon."

"Uh- Thank you for your time," Esposito said haltingly.

As they turned to leave, Santiago called out, "Feel free to come back sometime. I happen to enjoy B negative!"

.

" _How did he know my blood type?!"_ Ryan whispered as they got into the car, eyes wide.

Esposito shrugged. "Vampires, man," he said. "Vampires."

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

"You had a crush on him!" Castle exclaimed triumphantly.

The suspect's shoulders shook as he turned away from him.

"Oh, no, you're not crying, are you?" asked Castle worriedly. "Crap, I didn't mean to make you cry. I _knew_ I should have left the interrogation to Beckett-"

Then Bane turned and Castle realized he was laughing.

The concern vanished from his face immediately.

"Aw, damn it," he whined. "I thought I'd gotten it this time. My last one was _way_ off. I need to up my game."

"No, no," Bane said, still chuckling. "I mean you're not _wrong._ Have you seen those arms? _"_

"Really?" Castle perked up.

"I'm a freewheeling bisexual, darling, that's no secret."

"Same!"

"Really?" Bane asked, eyebrow raised.

"Really. I prefer the ladies, but, hey, who did you think I based Derek Storm off of?"

"An ex?" Bane asked, eyes wide and shining.

"Yeah! Really great guy- not one for commitment, though. Not that I blame him, with his job, but... Damn, the sex..." He snapped out of it, embarrassed. (Inwardly, he scolded himself. Beckett had always told him to keep a rapport, not ramble on about his ex!)

" _That's so cool,"_ Bane muttered under his breath, obviously not meaning to be heard.

"Why thank you," Castle replied anyway.

Bane's cheeks pinked slightly, and then, shaking himself out of his trance, and then proceeded to pretend that the last minute hadn't happened.

Castle went with it.

"So who do you think tried to kill Alec?" Castle asked.

Bane's brow furrowed. "Ragnor and I were thinking that perhaps it was a political rival of some sort. Morgenstern Enterprises, Seelie Inc, Dumort Industries, something of the like."

"Who's Ragnor?"

"My imaginary friend," said Bane airily.

Castle wasn't sure whether he was joking or not, so he left it. "Okay, so why do you and... Ragnor... think that it was a political rival?"

"Well," Bane said, "Lightwood Industries, at the rate it's going, will be in the toilet in a few years. But Alec- he's set to possibly inherit the company. And he doesn't seem to realize it, but he's a genius. He cares about the company, the people, what we actually do. What he doesn't care about... is the money. He refused to do anything but work his way to the top- and he's succeeding. If he was boss of this place, he could easily turn it completely around with his ideas and innovations. I've seen a few of them, they would work really well... But his father's too stubborn to go through with it. The way it is now, Dumort Industries, Seelie Inc, Morgenstern Enterprises and all of those other rivals will beat us pretty easily eventually. They'll gain a lot of profit, while we either get bought by them or go completely bankrupt. However..."

"If Alec becomes the head, and turns things around, they're missing a big opportunity. Possibly, what, millions of dollars?"

"Billions."

"Okay, but why didn't we know about this?"

"Because no one is supposed to. This is all conjecture. We don't even know if any of our rivals know about it. _I'm_ not supposed to know about it."

"Then how do you?" Castle asked suspiciously.

"Overheard this, happened to see that, talked to a couple of people," Bane shrugged. "Between Ragnor and I, we've put together a pretty solid picture, but we have no proof whatsoever."

"One more question. How did your blood get at the crime scene? How did your skin get under his fingernails? Why did you make the 9-1-1 call?"

Bane looked away uncomfortably. "I don't know," he said. "They were probably planted or something."

"And the call?" he said, mentally noting to push further later.

"Like I said, I came in, saw he was hurt, and panicked. What was I supposed to do, let him die?"

Castle sighed. He opened his mouth to reply, but his phone rang.

He sighed, looking at the lock screen, preparing to dismiss it, but then he read the contact name.

"I- uh- excuse me." he said, awkwardly shuffling towards the door. "I've got to- uh-"

"I'm not going anywhere," Bane said, obviously amused.

Castle left hastily, putting the phone to his ear and desperately attempting to sound innocent.

" _Heeeey_ Beckett," he said.

"We need to talk," she said ominously. "Like, _now."_

 **Oh, dear. Castle is in** ** _trouble~_**

 **(...Or is he?)**

 **(Spoiler: Yes.)**

 **(...Or is he?)**

 **(And yes, Castle is bisexual as fuck because that has always been my headcanon!)**


	9. Chapter 9

**Guys! Guys! Look! It's ANOTHER CHAPTER!**

 **WOOO!**

 **There are pirates!**

 **I lied! There are no pirates!**

 **Disclaimer: I own this, said the liar that is me. Which means I do not own this. The peoples and places, all of time and it's spaces, the backstories and plot twists- oh wait, that last one is mine. Sort of. YEEEEEEEEEEEES.**

 **:) enjoy friends. enjoy.**

" _If I lay here,_

 _If I just lay here..._

 _Would you lie with me,_

 _and just forget the world?_

 _Forget what we're told,_

 _Before we get too old..._

 _Show me a garden,_

 _that's bursting into life,"_

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

Alec lay on the hospital bed, for now unmoved by the drama that he was unknowingly at the center of.

And he dreamt.

 _The girl on screen froze as a low growl cut through the silence._

 _Magnus shivered slightly._

 _The camera panned so they could see the glowing eyes in the shadows behind her. She gave a loud, ear-splitting scream, spinning around._

" _Oh. My. GOD!" Alec complained. "Why would you even do that? How stupid are you?! That thing is blind, if you just fucking stayed still and quiet, it wouldn't-"_

 _The monster let out a roar, mouth gaping with sharp fangs, and she was swallowed whole._

 _Magnus let out a little shriek, shrinking closer to Alec._

" _Oh, too late. You've been FUCKING EATEN, you stupid-!"_

 _The scene cut to another the other characters deciding to split up._

" _Oh, no." Alec said. "No, no, what are you doing?!"_

 _One character, slowly walked down a dark hall, weapons ready, while the others paired off in groups of two._

" _No, no, no!" Alec shouted. "How did any of you survive this long? What the fuck?"_

 _The character spots a creepy door, lit only by a flickering lightbulb._

 _Alec sighed. "Let me guess, like a fucking IDIOT you're going to open that creepy, solitary door, right? Alone. With no backup."_

 _The character proceeded to do exactly that, music building and getting tenser and tenser._

 _Magnus wrapped the blanket around himself tighter, eyes still wide._

 _The character's hand hovered above the doorknob._

 _Alec sighed dramatically._

 _The character moved to open it, and then the door burst open, the monster screeching and launching itself at the character, ripping them apart._

 _Magnus cursed in another language, sounding rather high-pitched, jumping backwards violently. Alec cautiously, slowly, not wanting to overstep any boundaries, wound an arm around his boyfriend's waist._

 _The reaction was instantaneous. Magnus curled into his side, apparently happy for the comfort. Alec relaxed, turning some attention back to the movie. Magnus buried his face in Alec's shoulder._

" _I hate horror movies," Magnus muttered grumpily into Alec's shoulder._

" _I love them." Alec replied._

" _You've done nothing but criticize the movie so far," Magnus laughed softly, looking up at Alec. It was an awkward angle, but Alec gave him a chaste kiss anyway._

" _I'll tell you a secret," he whispered, smiling. "That's the fun part."_

 _There was a long moment of content silence, the movie fading to a background hum- until a shrill scream broke it, making Magnus flinch and elbow Alec in the gut._

" _Sorry," Magnus muttered, "I'm still jumpy."_

" _It's fine." Alec grinned._

" _Ah, yes. I've got a big, strong man to protect me, after all," Magnus teased._

 _Alec chuckled, unconsciously pulling Magnus closer. "Always."_

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

" _Oh_ -kay," Castle said. "I can do that. Uh, where are you?"

"Precinct, obviously. Where are you?" Beckett said.

"I'll be right there!" he said with false cheer, then he hung up.

He turned, closing the phone, only to see her standing there, uncertainly putting her own phone in her pocket.

"Castle?" she asked. "What are you already doing here?"

"Uh- Well, you see, I was- uh-"

"Save it," she said, rolling her eyes. "What've you got?"

"Uh. What?"

"Leads," Beckett said, raising an eyebrow. "You think Bane is innocent, right? Prove it."

"Uh, okay. Simon and I were looking over the-"

"Simon?" she asked incredulously. "Simon _Lewis?_ As in, _suspect_ Simon Lewis?"

" _Former_ suspect," he corrected, wincing.

She sighed deeply. "Why am I even surprised anymore, Castle? Just... fill me in."

And so he did.

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

Ryan and Esposito once again looked up at a tall building- one completely the opposite of the low yet grand, shaded Dumort Industries. Seelie, Inc. was a tall, gleaming, silver building: all sleek glass and shining steel, letters in gold, towering over them.

"Fantastic," Ryan muttered.

When they entered, the decor was similar- silver and gold and almost futuristic, an opposite to the blood-red carpets and "retro hotel" look of Dumort Industries.

They walked to the front desk.

"We're here to see-" Esposito began, but before he could even pull out his badge, he was pointed to a door.

"Uh, do you-?"

The door opened, and out strolled a beautiful woman with clear, stunning blue eyes and long, flowing scarlet hair. Her dark red lips were curved into a mocking, vicious smile, and she said, "Detectives Ryan and Esposito."

Ryan and Esposito exchanged a look.

"You're here about the Lightwood boy," she stated, tossing her hair lightly. "You think that I may have been behind it. You're wrong. I didn't- nor did anyone under my command- attack the boy, and I have no desire to speak with you for any longer than I have to."

"We'd still like to ask you some questions, Miss Queen," Esposito said, frowning.

"Call me Mab," she said, looking him up and down. "Or ma'am. Either way, really. And I will answer exactly three questions."

"Thr- ma'am, we're the NYPD. Do you really think you can just choose how many questions we ask you?" Ryan asked.

"Oh, I can't control how many questions you ask me, but I can control how many I answer. And right now, you don't have a warrant, so you can't force me to do anything. There's your first answer."

"Wait, that doesn't count!" Ryan said.

"Of course it does," Mab said, smiling coldly. "It was a question, was it not? And I answered it. Go on, you've got two questions left. I promise, I'll answer honestly."

"And how can we trust your word?" Esposito asked. Ryan elbowed him.

She smiled widely, blood-red lipstick gleaming. "You can't," she said. "But I never lie. Ask my fiance." She made a flourishing gesture, showing off the gleaming silver band on her finger inlaid with rubies. Then she gave a tinkling, musical laugh. "You have one question left."

"Do you have any idea who would want Alexander Lightwood dead?" Esposito said.

"Of course I do," she said. "The answer would be a lot of people. He's a lynchpin, see? He's holding that whole damn company together. Not only that, but he has an ex-fiance whom he left at the altar, parents who are pissed at him, and of course, his office rival: an old enemy of mine named Magnus Bane."

"Enemy?" Ryan inquired.

"Ah, ah," she tutted. "Three questions. I think you should go."

"Look, lady-" Esposito began, slightly angry, but she put a long, spidery finger to his lips as if to shush him.

"Shush," she said. "I'll answer your fourth question... For a price."

"What kind of price?" Ryan asked cautiously.

She smiled.

.

.

.

"Nope," Ryan declared as they walked out of the building. "Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope."

"Right behind ya, buddy," Esposito said, shuddering. "That lady is crazy."

"We will find our answers in another place," Ryan said. "I am _not_ doing that."

"Yeah, well, we still got a lead. You see her ring?"

"Yeah?"

"Matches creepy albino guy from Morgenstern Enterprises."

"They're _engaged?"_

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

Alexis had to leave for a planned outing with friends but Simon and Isabelle were now on their way to the Precinct to see Castle.

When they got there, he was with the pretty detective from earlier- the one with steel eyes.

"Look, I get it," she was saying. "It's not totally implausible. But his _blood_ was at the crime scene. His _skin_ was under the vic's _fingernails._ Castle, I'm trying give the benefit of the doubt, but all of my instincts are saying not to trust him. And my instincts are rarely wrong."

"They are sometimes, though! Very, _very_ rarely!" Castle insisted. "And now must be one of those rare times. His story makes sense!"

"And we have no proof, Castle!" she said. "He's being shipped off in an hour. It's temporary, but..."

"Wait, they're sending Magnus to prison?" Isabelle butted in, horrified.

"I'm sorry, but there's nothing I can do, even if I was convinced that he was innocent," Beckett said, turning to them. "It's only temporary."

"Magnus may be a badass, but he won't survive prison!" Simon said. "No matter how short a time he's there."

"Beckett, please," Castle tried.

"It's out of my hands, Castle!" she said sharply. "There's nothing we can do- unless you can miraculously present proof that he didn't do this by the time he steps out that door-" she indicated the precinct door, "-then he'll be gone before noon. I'm sorry. But I did everything I could to delay it, for _you,_ Castle. And you all did everything you could to prove he's innocent. But how do you explain the blood? Explain how all of the evidence points to him?"

No one answered. Isabelle looked like she was about to slap her, but Simon gripped her hand tightly.

"It's time to face that maybe, just _maybe,_ your friend did this. Sometimes, people aren't who you expect them to be. It's a fact of life."

Only silence met her speech, tense and heavy.

"We've already contacted your family members. There's nothing else I can do."

She turned on one heel and left the room, wondering if she was doing the right thing.

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

 _Alec woke up feeling happy and safe and utterly content._

 _His boyfriend was asleep in his arms, hair unbrushed and soft, breaths deep and even. They'd fallen asleep, evidently._

 _But right now, it hardly seemed to matter that it was far past the middle of the night, that his siblings probably didn't know where he was._

 _He groggily reached for his phone, managing to grasp it just as Magnus stirred. He settled back down, humming a tuneless melody until Magnus was asleep again._

 _He shot Isabelle and Jace a quick text, saying he was alright, before discarding his phone and relaxing once more._

 _Everything seemed simple and calm._

 _Magnus's warm weight chasing away the cold, the movie long since over on the screen, the gentle patter of rain on the window... Slowly, Alec drifted back off to sleep, never having felt such a peace before._

It was irony, perhaps, that it was when he fell asleep that he woke up.

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

"We need to find proof," Simon said. "Concrete, stone-cold proof."

"Where are we gonna get that?" Castle said miserably.

"I don't know if we can," Isabelle said grimly. There was another moment of gloomy silence.

"We're not just going to- give up, are we?" Simon asked, voice a tad shrill. "We can still try, and even if we don't make the mark-"

"We're not going to make the mark, Simon," Isabelle said. "We have no proof."

She turned to go to a secluded hallway. To just think.

Isabelle knew she could tell them.

Tell them that her brother was gay- out him against his will- and dating Magnus. But there was no proof.

And if they miraculously believed her, and then if they weren't homophobic and biased... Then they would only spin it into their story- a jealous lover, tired of being kept secret, or even desperate for it to never come out. It would do nothing but harm.

She sighed, torn. What could she do that wouldn't end in heartbreak? Break a promise and possibly save a life (or ruin one) or keep her silence (and both of their trust) but risk losing her friend forever?

 _There was no way to win_ , Isabelle thought bitterly.

 **Get it? "Mab" as in "Queen of Air and Darkness" or "Queen of Faeries"? Yeeeeeeeeeeah I feel super cultured now.**

 **And as for the movie flashback things: I am proud of their adorableness. I always felt like Alec would just bitch about how stupid it was and how the characters are really dumb and the monsters really unrealistic and such while Magnus would be like "GODDAMN IT MOVING DOLL THING I'M NOT SLEEPING FOR A WEEK. ALEC COMFORT ME."**

 **Oh and just to be clear, I'll leave Mab's proposition to your imaginations, but it was supposed to be humor, not a plot device, so don't expect them to dramatically have to _pay the price_ later or something. **

**There'll be plenty of _other_ drama, though. :)**

 **Also: Yes, this is probably super inaccurate but I know nothing about police procedure, only about _plot._ So pretend this is all plausible, okay?**

 **Or don't. You can easily stop reading if it bothers you.**

 **But please don't, I'm a vain attention whore who loves it when people read my shitty fiction. :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**The moment of truth is coming, you guys!**

 **DISCLAIMER: None of them belong to me. Who is** ** _them,_** **you ask? Everyone. Everything.**

 **.**

" _I don't quite know,_

 _How to say,_

 _How I feel..._

 _Those three words,_

 _Are said too much..._

 _They're not enough,"_

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

Alec woke with a gasp.

All he could see was white, white bedsheets and white ceiling and white walls- then gold, and red, and green, and blue, and the colors swirl into faces.

"Alec. Alec!" Jace was saying, Clary was next to him, her bright green eyes worried and red-rimmed, like she'd been crying.

"W-wha-?" he slurred, blinking heavily, sitting up. The world tipped. His head pounded. He blinked again, vision beginning to clear itself.

Alec managed to sit up all the way, disoriented but otherwise fine.

"Don't sit up so fast, dumbass, you've been in a coma for like three days!" Clary exclaimed.

"M-magnus..." he coughed. "Is Magnus okay?"

Clary and Jace exchanged a loaded look.

"W-what is it?" Alec asked, worry building. "I-is he okay?!"

He couldn't think straight enough to remember that they didn't know, to keep up the facade. All that mattered was the last thing he remembered was Magnus shouting and in pain and gunshots and then darkness, and _was Magnus okay?!_

"Alec," Clary said carefully. "Magnus was there when you were shot at?"

"Yeah," he said weakly.

"He said he found you," Jace said angrily. "That son-of-a-bitch, why would he lie if he didn't do it?"

"Do it? Magnus didn't- Magnus didn't _attack me,_ are you insane?" Alec demanded.

"I told you," Clary said urgently. "We need to call the station now, he could be leaving any minute, it might already be too late!"

"What?!" demanded Alec.

"Magnus is the prime suspect in your case," Jace said. "They found his blood at the crime scene, his skin under your fingernails. They're sending him off to holding any time now."

"His blood was there because I think he might've been shot," Alec gasped. "I need to get over there now!"

"Alec, if he was shot, why wouldn't he just-?"

"Because he's an _idiot,"_ gritted Alec before lurching out of the bed.

"Alec!" Clary yelped. "What the hell are you _doing?"_

"I have to get there, right now! I'm running on adrenalin, I'll make it-!"

"Alec, stop! You just woke up from a coma!" Jace yelled. "Get back in that bed now, you fucking idiot!"

Alec steadied himself on Jace's shoulder. He looked directly into his eyes and said, "If it was Clary, would you let me stop you?"

"Alec, Magnus isn't Clary. You don't even like him!"

" _He's my Clary, Jace!"_ Alec staggered backwards, shouting, "Think about it! Why would he be there with me after hours? Why would his skin be under my fingernails? Do you want _details_? Just let me go! I have to go stop them!"

Jace looked utterly stricken. "But... You never said. You never told me."

"Not now, Jace, please!" Alec pleaded.

"Jace." Clary said as calmly as she could, biting her lip uncertainly. "If we're careful... and _fast,_ we can do it."

For a long moment, Jace clenched his jaw, silence in the hospital room.

"Alright," he said finally. "But we are _talking_ about this later. We'll take my car."

"Thank you," Alec said.

He only hoped they would make it in time.

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

Beckett had had a long day.

They were bringing Bane out to be transferred. He was cuffed, hair limp and unbrushed, makeup slightly smeared and everything about him seemed a bit dimmer. His usual cheerfully sarcastic demeanor, the glitter, the colorful clothing... It all seemed dulled, like he had given up.

She could see Castle conspiring with some of the other ex-suspects, all of them looking sadly at where Magnus was being led down the hallway.

He didn't look at any of them.

Becekett sighed. Logically, she knew Castle would get over it. She knew she'd done everything she could to support her partner's theory. She knew that she had gotten the bad guy. Case closed.

But there was some niggling doubt in the back of the mind.

"Uh, Beckett," Esposito called. "Alec Lightwood just went missing from his hospital room."

"What?" she demanded.

Bane looked up, eyes wide, and the others all flocked over.

"Was my brother taken?" Isabelle demanded.

"Are Clary and Jace okay?" Simon asked. "They should've been there."

"No. There are no signs of a struggle," Esposito reported.

"Okay... Thanks, Javi,"Beckett said, furrowing her eyebrows.

"Do you have any idea why Alec may have left the hospital room?" she questioned them. "Or where he might've gone? Maybe he still thinks his attacker is at large?"

"No," Isabelle said. "Unless..." She looked to the door.

There was the distant sound of yelling which slowly grew more distinct as the owner of the voice drew closer.

Finally, Alec Lightwood, still bruised and in plain white clothes, burst in, shouting at the top of his lungs.

" _Magnus Bane, you complete and utter asshole!"_

Beckett realized he must be here because his friends told him who had attacked him.

Bane stuttered at the sight of him, eyes wide, stumbling back out of the surprised guards' hold, still handcuffed.

Alec marched over to his attacker, and Beckett moved to intervene. As much as she disliked the guy, she couldn't have her vic being charged for assault.

But he brushed past her easily, storming over to Bane with fury and determination in his eyes, and Beckett was sure he was about to punch Bane right in the nose.

Instead, he leapt forward, threw his arms around Bane and kissed the life out of him.

Bane easily melted into his embrace, obviously shocked but not unhappy with the turn of events.

"Alexander," he gasped as they broke apart, breathless. Bane was bright-eyed and beaming. They'd seemed to have forgotten the room full of people watching- cops, friends, family members.

That- that wasn't anything like what she'd expected at all.

It seemed that Bane was nothing that man from college- because the way he was looking at Alec now, all starry-eyed and glowing, that was something that that horrible man would never have been capable of.

 _Shit,_ she swore mentally. _I fucked up._

 _-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-_

Beckett gaped. A quick glance to the side showed similar reactions in everyone except for Isabelle, who just grinned and snapped a photo with her phone.

Obviously they'd missed _something_ important.

"You," Alec huffed, "are the most selfless, loyal _dumbass_ I've ever known! What the _hell?"_

In the shocked, utter quiet of the precinct, their conversation was easily overheard, but the two didn't seem to notice... or care.

"Alexander, you know I don't-"

"-Break promises, yes, I know, but when I- I didn't mean- it's not worth your _life,_ Magnus! I'm not _ashamed-"_

"-I _know_ you're not, idiot, but your parents-"

"- _screw my parents!"_

Magnus blinked slowly, before finally saying, "...That sounds unappealing, to be honest. I much prefer you."

Alec blushed.

"Not that this isn't adorable," Esposito interrupted, voicing what Beckett was thinking, "But _what the fuck?"_

They both turned in unison, Alec blushing and Magnus looking very pleased.

"Uh..." Alec managed. "Magnus didn't do this. He was actually- with me when... He probably saved my life. And even if he hadn't, he wouldn't. Attack me, that is."

"I wouldn't," Magnus confirmed. "I actually- got shot, so, that's where the blood came from."

"So you _were_ shot?"Alec demanded, stepping back slightly at the same time as Beckett found her voice and said, "Why didn't you just _say something?"_

"I promised I would never out Alec without his explicit consent," Magnus said.

Alec shot him a glare. "No, no, no, back up, you got _shot_ and you didn't get any medical attention? And by the way, I didn't mean go to goddamn _prison_ for it, Magnus!"

"I did too get medical attention!" Magnus protested. "One of my friends is a nurse. I learned a lot from her!"

"Magnus-!" Alec began exasperatedly, but was interrupted by a rather high-pitched squeal of excitement.

They all turned to look at Castle.

"This... is... so... _cool!_ " Castle burst out. "That was the best plot twist ever!"

He was grinning like a kid on Christmas Day. "I was _so close!_ And that was _adorable,_ did you see that?! Beckett, you can't say that wasn't one of the most romantic things you've ever seen-?!"

"What about the skin under the fingernails?" Beckett asked, shooting Castle an empty glare. Ryan and Esposito exchanged looks.

Alec blushed deeper. Magnus wiggled his eyebrows.

"Uh, we..." Alec stuttered. "W-we..."

"You can say the word 'sex', Alec," Magnus said. "It's not like they don't know we're in a relationship."

"Y-yeah. That." Alec said lamely.

Beckett sighed. "J.T., can you remove their handcuffs please?"

The officer nodded, hiding a small smile, unlocking Magnus's cuffs.

Magnus flexed his hands, grinning.

"So back to the drawing board," Esposito sighed.

"Ah, yes. Who's your next suspect?" Magnus asked.

"You're still civilians," Beckett said. "You shouldn't be involved in this any further. In fact, you should all go home."

"I just got framed for attempted murder," Magnus pointed out mildly, walking in a circle as if to address everyone, not just Beckett. "And my boyfriend was the one nearly killed." he continued, sweeping past Ryan and Esposito and swiping a folder from the desktop, "I think it's fair to say we're involved. Besides, I've not only seen a shit-ton of crime shows and read every single one of Mr. Castle's books-" he shot a wink at Castle, to which Alec raised his eyebrows at, "-and I also took several courses on criminology and psychology in college. I think I can handle helping out on one case, hmm?"

"It'll look good for the mayor," Castle chimed in hopefully.

Beckett looked thoughtful. Behind her, Magnus looked through the file, brow furrowed.

"And," Magnus added, pausing dramatically, "I have a lead."

.

 **YESSSSSS! Finally, amiright?**

 **But this isn't the end... There is more drama to come! Who's the real assassin? And will they try again?**

 **Or will they go after someone else?**

 **Is anyone safe?**

 **Find out... later! No idea how much later, because this is all I had written! Sorry about that! :D**


	11. i'm rlly sorry guys pls don't hate me

**Okay, I honestly hate myself a lil bit for being** ** _that_** **author, but this isn't a chapter.**

 **My laptop is slightly very broken.**

 **Sadly, I am lost without my notes/plans/idea documents so the updates will be further away than anticipated. However, hopefully the delay won't be too long.**

 **In the meantime, I do have other ideas in the works, including but not limited to a hogwarts!au (what can i say i'm a slut for hogwarts!aus), a radio show au (so far underdevloped but fun), a psych crossover (oh dear. i have a problem with crossovers, i really do), a oneshot either from luke's pov or jocelyn's (who knows maybe both!), and a rather odd one inspired by a solangelo fanfiction i read once (Which i will totally credit) that's sort of... song-ficc-y but not.**

 **And that's just malec! I might- just maybe- do something else (Especially if anyone has any requests- although i'll warn you now, i suck at clace.)**

 **Beforementioned saphael fic is on my broken laptop, but once my cruel, reptilian reign rules over my laptop again, it won't take long to finish at all. Not long at all... (Hint: it's called Simon Says and tbh it's literally crack treated seriously. Fuck the ninety percent bullshit, no one believed that anyway. It's just straight up crack. (Although perhaps 'straight' isn't the right word.) Anyway i think you guys will like it. Hope you will. Desperately. Please enjoy it. He'll kill me again, please, i'm begging you. Enjoy it. Enjoyyyyy.)**


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